Welcome to The Embodied Emotion Laboratory
The Embodied Emotion Laboratory conducts research using several different neuroimaging techniques. This research involves different cohorts of participants including university students, older adults, and children who are just starting school. Examining topics such as emotion regulation from a variety of perspectives allows us to better understand how emotions influence different elements of our lives.
Of course, to perform interdisciplinary research, it is important to have good collaborators and a research team with a variety of skills. The lab currently collaborates with:
Dr. Stephanie Budgen (Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg)
Dr. Sergio Camorlinga (Department of Applied Computer Science, University of Winnipeg)
Dr. Amy Desroches (Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg)
Dr. Beverley Fredborg (Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg)
Dr. Lorna Jakobson (Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba)
Dr. Jennifer Kornelsen (Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba)
Dr. Qian Liu (Department of Applied Computer Science, University of Winnipeg)
Dr. Camilo Valderrama (Department of Applied Computer Science, University of Winnipeg)
Meet the Team
We strive to create a team atmosphere in the Embodied Emotion Laboratory. Below, you will meet the members of the lab.
Stephen Smith, PhD
Principal Investigator
Steve received his Bachelor of Arts and Science from the University of Lethbridge (majoring in Political Science and Psychology) before moving to the University of Waterloo to complete his Master of Arts (Psychology: Cognition/Perception) and his PhD (Psychology: Behavioural Neuroscience). He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He has worked at the University of Winnipeg since 2006 and is now a Full Professor.
Shyamal Dharia, MSc
Research Associate
Shyamal Dharia completed an undergraduate degree in Engineering in India before moving to the University of Winnipeg. He completed his MSc degree in late 2024 and has worked on a collaborative research project with faculty in Psychology and Applied Computer Science ever since. His expertise in machine learning and data analysis have greatly enhanced the lab's productivity.
Amanda McQuarrie, MA
Clinical Psychology PhD Student
Amanda completed her Bachelors degree at the University of Victoria. She is currently co-supervised by Steve Smith and Lorna Jakobson (University of Manitoba). Her research focuses on alexithymia, sensory processing sensitivity, and empathy.
Mahdis Hojjati
Master's Student, Applied Computer Science
Mahdis completed her undergraduate work in Teheran before beginning her MSc work at the University of Winnipeg. She is co-supervised by Sergio Camorlinga, Amy Desroches, and Steve Smith. Her research focuses on using machine learning to identify patterns of neural activity that predict emotion regulation successes and failures.
Sofia Thibes
Research Assistant
Sofia is a 4th-year Psychology student who recently began working as a research assistant in the Embodied Emotion Laboratory. Her research involves political ideologies and the brain.
Angie Reina
Research Assistant
Angie is a Master's student in the Department of Applied Computer Science. her work in the Embodied Emotion Laboratory involves machine learning of EEG signals, specifically related to emotion-movement interactions.
Jordan Pimentel
Research Assistant
Jordan recently completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree at the University of Winnipeg. After completing an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award in the Embodied Emotion Laboratory in 2025, she continued working as a research assistant on projects related to empathy and the brain.
Loveleen Kaur
Undergraduate Honours Student
Loveleen is completing her Honours degree in Neuroscience. Her thesis will involve functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurements of neural activity during emotional perception.
Anjali Sharma
Undergraduate Honours Student
Anjali is completed her undergraduate Honours degree in Neuroscience. Her thesis project will be an investigation of how interoceptive attention influence emotion regulation strategy selection.
Alanah Pamandanan
Undergraduate Honours Student
Alanah is completing her Honours degree in psychology. Her research project is an investigation of how dark tetrad personality traits influence emotion-attention interactions.
Deborah Alabi
Undergraduate Honours Student
Deborah is completing her Honours degree in Psychology. Her research project will examine how the trait of alexithymia influences emotion-attention interactions at early and/or late stages of attention.